The typical passenger vehicle includes one or more doors. Each door serves as a closure panel for the vehicle's passenger compartment, and moves between a closed position and an open position. In addition to the doors, the vehicle includes a locking system for each door. The locking system for a given door has a closing subsystem, whose components serve to close the door, and an opening subsystem, whose components serve to lock and unlock the door, as well as to open the door.
The closing subsystem is often embodied by one or more latch assemblies that each include a latch. The opening subsystem, on the other hand, is often embodied by one or more handle assemblies that each include a user-accessible handle, as well as a linkage connected between each handle and all of the latches. As the door is moved to the closed position, each latch is moved to a latched position to thus close the door. When the opening subsystem is deactivated, the linkage is unresponsive to the operation of any of the handles to actuate any of the latches, thus locking the door. When the opening subsystem is activated, the linkage is responsive to the operation of any of the handles to actuate all of the latches, thus unlocking the door, and raising the prospect of allowing the door to open.
Once operation of the vehicle is underway, the door is meant to remain closed. In normal operation of the vehicle, the opening subsystem functions to keep the door closed. However, as opposed to its functioning in normal operation of the vehicle, the opening subsystem is sometimes subject to functional disruption with respect to keeping the door closed when the door is compromised by a side impact event.